In December 2007, the UFPJ National Steering Committee met in
New York City
to examine where we are and to look to the work ahead. One thing was very clear:
2008 will be a critical year for ending the war and occupation in
Iraq
, preventing war on
Iran
and building a massive peace and justice movement strong enough to change the course of this country.

In 2008, the anti-war movement must up the ante, pull out all of the
stops and build so much pressure on Washington that the next Congress
and president will be forced to finally end the war and occupation in
Iraq. We must develop new ways to express our outrage that this war
continues to cause so much death and destruction both in
Iraq
and here at home. At the same time, we must be vigilant in preventing a new war on
Iran
.

One of the primary components of our 2008 work is marking the 5th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The
presidential candidates, the Congress, the White House and the media
all seem to be working hard to push Iraq off the agenda until after the
elections this fall -- we can't let that happen! They may be willing to let hundreds more U.S. soldiers and thousands more Iraqis die between now and when the next president and Congress are sworn in, but we are not!

United
for Peace and Justice is calling for and supporting a set of activities
on and around the 5th anniversary that will manifest the intensifying
opposition to the war and help strengthen and expand our movement. We urge you to join with us to ensure the success of these actions.